stingrayfan

ARIA GT4 - Black

Bought for home practice and now surplus to reqs, you can get a nice Stingray sound out of this. It's had a pre-amp added by previous owner, which is controlled by an on-off switch. Nice paint finish, block inlays and binding around the edge. This is a great bass to learn on, use for home practice or gig as a spare.

Will chuck in a padded gig bag and deliver for £150 all in. Can't say fairer!

Pic of a similar bass for illustration - will get a proper pic up tomorrow.

Had my Sterling Ray 34 (Indo-made Stingray) for a few gigs and rehearsals now and I feel I can give a reasoned take on it.

First up, yes I [i]know[/i] I could have got a secondhand US one for the same money as I paid new for this (£560) and I [i]know[/i] it would have held its money better, but I used to own/gig a US SR4 and never got on with it. It was clunky to play, weighed a ton and the neck (to me) felt like a tree trunk. It went for half a dozen setups and never came back right.

This however (after a truss rod tweak and a DIY setup) now feels lovely and sounds great. We did a gig in a huge officers' mess dining hall last night and through my Hartke LH500 and Warwick 4x10, it sounded beautiful. Creamy with that Stingray bite, but with great highs and definition on the G-string (a known SR4 weakness). Pickup on this is not American but it is punchy and smooth, with no top end "clank" that I used to get. EQ is maybe a little less dramatic than the US variant but still does the job well. The neck is smooth and fast to play (feels more satin than the original) and feels far less chunky than the one I used to have on the SR4.

Couple of cons however: the paintwork aint a patch on the US version. This is already picking up light scratches and proving hard to polish. The hardware isn't quite as good as it should be. Ok at first glance but looks a bit lacking, close up. And the bass doesn't come with a hard case (you get padded gig bag). But then neither did my G&L Tribute, so I'm splitting hairs here. It says "set-up in the USA" when you buy it. Take that as, 'put in a box in the USA' because the set-up was awful. But after a DIY set-up, as above, and some lemon oil on the fingerboard, it was sorted).

I think gigging does show up a bass for what it is though and so far, it's proving to be brilliant for what I need it for (fairly busy function cover band). It maybe goes to show that it doesn't really matter what is on the headstock (even if it is colour-matched ) or where it is made, but it's more about does it feel great, does it sound great and does it do the job? It's yes to all three, so far.

Not my pic, but for illustration:

Not sure about the white piping but go on then, you're on. £300, will pick up from Swindon, Thurs or Fri this week. Will PM you. Cheers.

[quote name='Alien' post='964980' date='Sep 22 2010, 09:14 PM']I usually refer to a note as sharp in an ascending scale/run, and flat if it's decending.

BTW, my theory knowledge is almost non-existent.

A[/quote]
+1. On both counts!

I had custom moulded ones made a while back and couldn't get on with them. Felt it cut me off from the rest of the band and singing lead vocals felt odd.

But saying that, I do wear foam ones, esp when we're loading out at a party and there's a DJ playing crap at top volume.

Got any pics on the cab with the cover on please?

So I've got a nice old-school Trace 300w combo. But recently, it's sounded terrible in rehearsal rooms.

This week, we rehearsed in a smallish retangular meeting room in a village hall (think primary school classroom: carpet flooring, painted brick walls, high ceiling) and no matter where I stood, my bass sound was awful. It was boomy and disconnected. It sounded like the amp was in another room, it was that bad. Tried EQ'ing it and the bass, tried standing across the room from it, and couldn't escape the mush. The amp was in the middle of the room, about 2 feet from the wall.

Question is: where can I put it, to get a better sound other than back in the car?!

Thanks

Had mine for a few weeks now and have gigged it once and rehearsed with it:

Pros: The feel (slightly less chunky than a SR4), the sound (warm with bite, and no quiet G), the playability (after a home set-up, it's really smooth), the build quality (think Lakland Skyline). Plus the worry of not having a £1200 bass to look after.

Cons: Paintwork isn't the best (picking up scratches fast), hardware looks a little on the cheap side, no hard case.

But all in all, happy with my purchase and want to gig with it loads.

as a PS, I recently gigged the Ray 34 for the first time at a noisy pub gig. Sounded great, cut right through. A keeper.

[quote name='MB1' post='552993' date='Jul 27 2009, 06:13 PM']this one wont enlarge! [/quote]

It's your time of life

Don't rule out the Tributes. Made in the Far East with US pickups and electrics. Great sound and build quality. Think Lakland Skyline. List is about £600 these days but you can [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-G-L-L2000-TRIBUTE-BASS-GUITAR-LEO-FENDER-DESIGN-/220660475236?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item336063a564"]pick one up online for about £450[/url].

And they don't weigh a ton.

Defo a copy.

The write-up's the classic "I don't know what it is....". If you didn't know what it was, surely you'd just copy what it says on the headstock.

Avoid!

Is that photo post-coitial? :-D

[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='930509' date='Aug 20 2010, 01:46 AM']I hear the new names and I think of that old Abbot & Costello routine "Who's on Bass?"

Hey, Abbott is that 1st bass player using a Sterling made by MusicMan? No it's a Sterling by Musicman. Didn't I just say that!!!! (cue laughter)



I like the looks of the SBMM 5 strings more so I'm hoping they're just as good if not better.[/quote]
Think you're right - it's a bit daft calling a brand the same name as a current model. Asked the guy in the shop if he had a Sterling Sterling and he scratched his head.

MantaRay would have been a great name.

Ps - keeping the bass ;-)

[quote name='Prime_BASS' post='929582' date='Aug 19 2010, 11:34 AM']I'd take a ray34 over a sub if it had a nordstrand mm4.2 as and try and get a MMSR pre-amp from John east.[/quote]
I had to put a Nordstrand 4.2 in my old SR4 to get it to sound like the Ray34 I've got now.

FWIW, I played a few Subs and wasn't that impressed. They did feel budget.

[quote name='iconic' post='929366' date='Aug 19 2010, 08:57 AM']do Ray34's have G string issues's?[/quote]
My one doesn't seem to have the quiet G I had before on the US SR4. And there's no "clanky clank" too.

Not doing a "I've just got a Ray34, y'all should get one..." Just scratching my head at how the cheaper version is better than the US one I used to own. Maybe I had a Friday afternoon Ray.

[quote name='iconic' post='929372' date='Aug 19 2010, 09:01 AM']I see you have a BB614, how does that Ray34 compare?....I had a BB614 but found the EQ soooo quiet if flattened off, lovely bass though...another one I'm regretting selling....now I have this StingRay I'm sure that 614 sounded similar?[/quote]
BB614 is a lovely bass to play - but agree with you about the EQ. I run mine with bass and treble up full. It's still a bit flat sounding. Ray34's got a lot more balls. Don't think I'd part with the BB though, it's a great rehearsal bass and records quite nicely too. Just doesn't really cut through at gigs.

I've got a couple of days left to take this Ray34 back to the shop for a full refund, if I want to. On the basis of what people are saying, I should. I'm going to lose money on it and I could prob get a S/H Ray for a little more.

But I can't put it down for long, it plays really nice, the neck is much nicer than the one I had on my US Ray and it sounds warmer. It feels like a bass I'd like to gig, and that's my rule for keeping stuff, really.

Ooh, it's a heated debate.

Beautiful. If I hadn't just bought a Ray34, I'd be all over this like a cheap suit.

Er, maybe..

Confused - I want my Mummy!

All the above makes sense - here's the thing though:

My new Indo-made Ray34 seems to be better than the USA model I had before. Not better materials, granted, but better feel and sound.

How come?

Just to play devil's advocate - why do we (including me) still think that a US bass is the best that money can buy? I've owned a few "top-notch" US basses (Fender Ps, Js, MM Ray, G&L) and I passed them all on, in favour of an Indonesian made, "budget" bass*. It's the best gigging bass I've played, so far.

*G&L Tribute

[quote name='bumnote' post='928322' date='Aug 18 2010, 08:20 AM']if you buy a used ray and decide you dont like itor want to change it in a year or so you should be able to sell it for near enough what you paid for it. If you buy a stirling you will sell it for perhaps 2/3rds of what you pay for it.

Country of origin is not a guarantee of quality, and most of the stuff from the cort factory is pretty good. The stirling is probably built to a price point and there may be some compromises but whether or not they make any appreciable difference depends on the player.[/quote]
The value thing is very true - a Ray34's not going to hold it's money from new.

Re: build quality - I think something either feels good or it doesn't. So far, the Ray 34 I've got feels more playable than my old SR4 ever did.

Have tried two of these in P form in the last couple of days and really liked the relic feel, which surprised me. Couple of things were odd: the machineheads were so distressed, the were hard to turn and they also seem to have distressed the price way beyond that of a Mex Fender. £800?! Are they having a giraffe?

And while the bass felt good to play, I couldn't help think of those Vintage copies. And they're only a couple of hundred quid...